MOUFLON Ovis aries musimon

This wild sheep is thought to be one of the original ancestors of our modern domesticated sheep. It can be found in mountainous areas above the tree line, in mountain meadows or on steep-sided rocky peaks. Populations have recently been re-established into areas of Europe, but historically mouflon originated on the islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Cyprus.

The rams can grow to between 2-4 feet tall at the shoulder with the ewes smaller and slighter. Their coat is coarse and heavy and it hides a soft woollen “bodywarmer” in winter, which is shed in summer. The coat is red-brown in colour with a dark back-stripe and light coloured side patches, underparts, muzzle and the bottom half of the legs. The males have a distinctive white saddle patch in winter. Both sexes can have horns but the females are smaller and are sometimes nonexistent. The rams have large curved, spiral horns which arch back over the head. The size of the horns determines how high the male is in the dominance hierarchy.

The males and females live in separate groups for most of the year until the rut in late autumn and early winter. The rams reinforce their dominance hierarchy by crashing their horns together, resulting in older males and those with larger horns finally courting the females. The ewes will not breed until they are 2-3 years old and the rams will not breed until they are around 7 years old due to the need for a high social standing with the other males. After approximately 210 days, the ewes give birth to either one or two lambs. The ewe will find a hidden corner to have her lamb, which is able to stand within minutes of its birth. How long a mouflon will live is directly linked to a population’s status. When the numbers in a population are stable or declining, most sheep will live over 10 years with a maximum life span of 20 years. In a growing population with heavy reproduction, the average life span is only 6-7 years.

Mouflon are herbivores and feed on grasses, heather and shrubs. Their stomachs are multi-chambered and contain special microbes, which break down the cellulose in the plant cells. After eating, the mouflon will lie down and regurgitate its food, chewing it a second time to soften it more (“chewing the cud”). They now have few natural predators but the mouflon is still a very shy animal and is capable of lying very still on the ground, resembling a boulder. In the wild, they feed mostly at night and also have a seasonal migration from large upland areas in summer to sheltered valleys in winter.

Habitat loss, hunting and interbreeding with domestic sheep have all led to a decline in mouflon numbers. On Corsica, Sardinia and Cyprus, the populations are now listed as vulnerable by the IUCN and there are restrictions on hunting and trapping. On mainland Europe however the introduced herds are thriving.